BJD sarpanch built Rs 2 cr mansion with extortion money!

BJD sarpanch of Khuntakata panchayat in Athagarh Rajesh Naik, who was arrested by Kolkata police last Monday, has constructed a mansion at Narayan Vihar in Laxmanpur area near Jagatpur with money extorted in West Bengal, investigations by Kolkata police have revealed.

Naik, who runs a criminal network in West Bengal, has constructed the building at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore on a piece of land purchased from a builder, sources in West Bengal police said. The mansion was a meeting place for criminals from West Bengal and Odisha, besides some high profile political leaders of Odisha who used to visit the building at regular intervals, they said.

Surprisingly, the commissionerate police, have not yet raided his palatial building, leave alone investigating into the Naik’s arrest.

While the commissionerate police have said they are waiting for a response from their Kolkata counterparts, it is most likely that the documents relating to his criminal activities could have been either destroyed or taken away by his associates.

Kolkata police tracked down Naik in connection with the killing by Naik’s brother Abhaya after a group of rival gang members attacked his sister in Kolkata on November 16 this year.

Police later arrested Abhaya and his sister Rakhi. On the basis of the information given by the arrested duo, police later arrested Rajesh on December 9 from his residence at Khuntakata without the knowledge of the local police.

Police later took him on remand for interrogation.

During interrogation, police have come to know that apart from his palatial building at Jagatpur, Naik also owns two hotels at Puri, besides about 30 acres of land in Odisha and Bengal. Besides, police have found his two bank accounts in Cuttack and Kolkata.

Apart from this, Rajesh has also extorted over crores of rupees from several cashew farms, bars and hotels in Odisha and Kolkata.